Richard Hutten (1967) is one of Holland’s most famous designers. His work is also widely acclaimed internationally. He studied at the Academy of Industrial Design in Eindhoven (now Design Academy Eindhoven) and in 1991 established his own studio, where he designs furniture, products, interiors and exhibition installations.

His clear and often humorous designs have led him to be regarded as one of the leading exponents of Dutch Design. He is famous for his No Sign of Design collection of functional furniture based on a clear concept executed with a coherent style, such as his Tafel op Tafel (Table on Table) concept. One of his most popular designs is the Domoor (literally Dumb-ear, meaning fool in Dutch), a jolly drinking cup with two big ears that serve as handles. Besides being visually appealing, the cup is easy for young children and people with a handicap to hold.

His work has been added to the permanent collection at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Vitra Museum in Weil am Rhein in Germany and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art among other museums. Philippe Starck incorporated some of his designs in the interior of the Delano Hotel in Miami and the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles.

nijntje by Richard Hutten

As well as reading Dick Bruna’s books aloud to his children, Richard Hutten has also worked on other projects involving the work of Dick Bruna. In 2004 he set up an exhibition of Dick Bruna’s work in the Suntory Museum in Osaka (Japan). Both then and when presented with the Miffy statue he wrestled with the challenge of creating a 3-dimensional version of Dick Bruna’s work. In the end he decided to design his own Miffy sculpture for the Art Parade: nijntje by Richard Hutten [Miffy by Richard Hutten]. ‘Miffy doesn’t have any sides or a back. She only has a front. The same is true of my Miffy sculpture. No matter which angle you view it from, it is always perceived as frontal. I achieved this by making the sculpture round and giving it several eyes and mouths. However you look at it, you only ever see a front. It’s a spatial 2-dimensional image of Miffy – the way Dick Bruna originally pictured her.’